Two girls take a break from learning in the pre-k class that meets at First Church of Birmingham. (Erin Edgemon/eedgemon@al.com)

(Source: Alabama School Readiness Alliance)

Advocates of Alabama's First Class Pre-K program are asking state lawmakers to increase funding for the top-rated voluntary program by $20 million for fiscal year 2018.

The appropriation would increase pre-k's funding to $84.5 million, which would help sustain the voluntary program's 816 classrooms across the state and allow the creation of about 100 more classrooms, said Jeana Ross, secretary of the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education, which manages the state's First Class Pre-K program.

At least another 60 classrooms will also be created through the help of federal preschool development grants the state received from the U.S. Department of Education.

This additional funding means getting more than 2,880 additional 4-year-olds into a classroom by the fall.

The 2017 Alabama Legislative session kicks off Feb. 7.

At the 11th annual convention of the Alabama First Class Pre-K program held in Mobile on Jan. 5, Gov. Robert Bentley said he has made the expansion of high-quality pre-k a priority of his administration. He said funding has increased by more than 300 percent; under his administration, enrollment in First Class programs had expanded from 3,906 to 14,598; and Pre-K teachers had gotten pay parity with elementary school teachers, including a recent four percent raise.

In 2012, the First Class Pre-K program had only $19 million in funding and funded 119 classrooms across the state. Now, 25 percent of 4-year-olds have access to the program. That is up from 19 percent in 2015.

Advocates of pre-k want more. The goal is to reach full funding of $144 million and 70 percent of 4-year-olds in pre-k by 2023.

"We know this program is working and 25 percent is not enough, said Allison Muhlendorf, executive director of Alabama School Readiness Alliance, which is a non-profit coalition of pre-k advocates.

Jefferson County alone has 87 pre-k programs, with on average 18 students in each class. The need and the demand for additional classrooms is high as 13 Birmingham City Schools were identified by the Alabama State Department of Education as failing this year.

Five high schools in Jefferson County are considered failing by the state while Bessemer City High School in Bessemer city school district and Fairfield High Preparatory School in the Fairfield City Schools district were also considered failing.

Muhlendorf said only 18 percent of 4-year-olds in Jefferson County are in First Class Pre-K, which is behind much of the state.

A study by the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama found students that participate in the state's First Class Pre-K program consistently outperform their peers in math and reading on state assessments. Other studies, according to advocates, show that students who have attended pre-k are more likely to graduate from high school and find success in the workforce. They are also less likely to commit a crime or rely on social welfare programs as adults.

Margaret White has a son currently in the pre-k program at the First Church of Birmingham Early Learning Center in downtown Birmingham. Her daughter previously went through the program and is currently "thriving in kindergarten."

She said the program has had the "flexibility to innovate and create these amazing learning environments for all of the students."

Students are learning the alphabet, about music and exploring science, she said.

"For my kids, for both of them, it has developed a love for learning in both of them that I hope will last a lifetime," White said.

Ross said the Department of Early Childhood Education is working to ensure pre-k classrooms are added to the communities that need them the most. She said Wilcox County in south Alabama was identified as one of the poorest counties in the country, and her department worked to open pre-k classrooms to accommodate every 4-year-old there.

First Class Pre-K is expanded through a competitive grant process at the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education. Last year, the state received about 400 grant applications and were only able to fund half of them.